HowLongToBeat Scraper

Extract game completion time data from HowLongToBeat.com — the internet's most trusted source for how long it takes to beat video games.

What Does This Scraper Do?

This actor fetches detailed completion time information for video games from HowLongToBeat.com, including:

• Main Story hours — time to complete the primary storyline
• Main + Extras hours — main story plus major side content
• Completionist hours — 100% completion time
• All Styles hours — median across all playstyles
• Speedrun / Speedrun 100% hours (mode=byId) — fastest recorded completion times
• Co-op / Multiplayer hours — time invested in cooperative or multiplayer modes
• Game metadata: developer, publisher, platforms, genres, release year, regional release dates, alternate titles/editions
• Community data: player ratings, review counts, backlog/playing/retired/replay counts
• Cover art image URLs

Modes

byId — Lookup by HLTB Game ID

Fetch detailed game data using HowLongToBeat's numeric game IDs. Find game IDs in the URL when browsing HLTB (e.g., howlongtobeat.com/game/10270 → ID is 10270).

Popular game IDs (verified):

• 10270 — The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
• 68151 — Elden Ring
• 2127 — Cyberpunk 2077
• 27100 — Red Dead Redemption 2
• 26286 — Hollow Knight

For any other game, look up its ID by searching for the title on howlongtobeat.com and reading the number from the resulting game page's URL — HLTB's numeric IDs are reassigned occasionally, so don't hardcode IDs from third-party lists without verifying them first.

search — Search Games by Name

Free-text search across HLTB's full game database by title or keyword (e.g. zelda, final fantasy, portal). Supports sorting via sortBy (popularity, alphabetical, most currently playing, highest rating, newest release, largest backlog).

popular — Browse Trending Games

Returns the current popular/trending titles from the HowLongToBeat homepage.

Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
mode	String	byId, search, or popular
gameIds	Array	HLTB numeric game IDs (mode=byId)
searchQuery	String	Game name/keyword to search for (mode=search, required)
sortBy	String	Sort order for search results — popular (default), name, playing, rating, release, or backlog (mode=search)
maxItems	Integer	Maximum records to return (default: 20)

Output Fields

Each record contains:

Field	Type	Description
gameId	Integer	HowLongToBeat numeric game ID
title	String	Game title
description	String	Short game description
developer	String	Game developer
publisher	String	Game publisher
platforms	Array	List of platforms (PC, PS5, Xbox, etc.)
genres	Array	Game genres (Action, RPG, etc.)
releaseYear	Integer	Year of worldwide release
mainStoryHours	Float	Hours to complete main story
mainPlusExtrasHours	Float	Hours for main story + extras
completionistHours	Float	Hours for 100% completion
allStylesHours	Float	Median hours across all playstyles
speedrunHours	Float	Fastest recorded main-story speedrun time (mode=byId)
speedrun100Hours	Float	Fastest recorded 100% speedrun time (mode=byId)
speedrunSubmissions	Integer	Number of speedrun time submissions
coOpHours	Float	Hours invested in cooperative play
coOpSubmissions	Integer	Number of co-op time submissions
multiplayerHours	Float	Hours invested in multiplayer/competitive play
multiplayerSubmissions	Integer	Number of multiplayer time submissions
totalSubmissions	Integer	Sum of main/main+extras/completionist/all-styles submissions
allSubmissionsCount	Integer	HLTB's authoritative grand-total submissions across every category (mode=byId)
rating	Integer	Community rating score (0-100)
reviewCount	Integer	Number of community reviews
countPlaying	Integer	Players currently playing
countBacklog	Integer	Players with game in backlog
countCompleted	Integer	Players who completed the game
retiredCount	Integer	Players who retired (gave up on) the game
replayCount	Integer	Players who replayed the game (mode=byId)
customCount	Integer	Custom-category time submissions (mode=byId)
discussionCount	Integer	Number of discussion posts about the game (mode=byId)
popularityRank	Integer	HLTB popularity ranking score (mode=search/popular)
alternateNames	Array	Alternate titles, regional editions, or re-release names
releaseDateNA	String	North America release date, YYYY-MM-DD (mode=byId)
releaseDateEU	String	Europe release date, YYYY-MM-DD (mode=byId)
releaseDateJP	String	Japan release date, YYYY-MM-DD (mode=byId)
parentGameId	Integer	Base game's HLTB ID, present for DLC/expansions (mode=byId)
imageUrl	String	Game cover art URL
steamId	Integer	Steam app ID (if available)
gameType	String	Type classification (game, dlc, etc.)
ratingEsrb	String	ESRB age rating
ratingPegi	String	PEGI age rating
ratingCero	String	CERO (Japan) age rating (mode=byId)
gameUrl	String	Full URL to HLTB game page
sourceUrl	String	URL that was scraped
scrapedAt	String	ISO 8601 timestamp
recordType	String	Always game

Mode note: fields tagged (mode=byId) come only from a game's detail page. The search and popular modes use HowLongToBeat's lighter list API, which — on top of the tagged fields — also omits description, developer, publisher, genres, gameType, ratingEsrb, ratingPegi, totalSubmissions and countCompleted. Every record includes gameId, so you can follow up with a byId lookup to retrieve the full field set.

Example Output

{
  "gameId": 10270,
  "title": "The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt",
  "developer": "CD Projekt Red",
  "publisher": "CD Projekt",
  "platforms": ["PC", "PlayStation 4", "PlayStation 5", "Xbox One", "Xbox Series X/S"],
  "genres": ["Action", "RPG"],
  "releaseYear": 2015,
  "mainStoryHours": 51.6,
  "mainPlusExtrasHours": 84.4,
  "completionistHours": 139.1,
  "allStylesHours": 71.7,
  "rating": 95,
  "reviewCount": 8000,
  "speedrunHours": 11.0,
  "speedrunSubmissions": 42,
  "allSubmissionsCount": 120000,
  "retiredCount": 900,
  "releaseDateNA": "2015-05-19",
  "releaseDateEU": "2015-05-19",
  "releaseDateJP": "2015-05-19",
  "alternateNames": ["The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Game of the Year Edition"],
  "steamId": 292030,
  "imageUrl": "https://howlongtobeat.com/games/Witcher3_1_large.png",
  "gameUrl": "https://howlongtobeat.com/game/10270",
  "sourceUrl": "https://howlongtobeat.com/game/10270",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-06-30T12:00:00+00:00",
  "recordType": "game"
}

Use Cases

• Gaming backlog management — prioritize games by completion time
• Gaming journalism — research articles about game lengths
• Game recommendation systems — filter by playtime preference
• Market research — analyze completion rates across genres and platforms
• Game length comparisons — compare franchises and sequels

Finding Game IDs

1. Go to howlongtobeat.com
2. Search for any game
3. Click on the game to open its detail page
4. The ID is the number in the URL: howlongtobeat.com/game/**10270**

FAQ

Q: Why is a game missing completion time data? A: Some games (multiplayer-only, very new, or niche titles) may have few or no submissions. HowLongToBeat requires user submissions to calculate averages.

Q: What does "All Styles" mean? A: This is the median playtime across all submission types — it represents a typical playthrough regardless of how much extra content was completed.

Q: How often is the data updated? A: HowLongToBeat updates in real-time as users submit their playtimes. Each scrape reflects the current averages.

Q: Can I scrape all games at once? A: Use the byId mode with a list of game IDs. HowLongToBeat game IDs are sequential integers, so you can enumerate ranges if needed.

Q: Can I search for games by name instead of looking up IDs manually? A: Yes — use mode=search with searchQuery set to any game title or keyword. This is the easiest way to find games without needing to know their HLTB ID upfront, and results include the gameId for follow-up byId lookups if you need the full detail-page fields (speedrun times, regional release dates, etc.).

Q: What is the difference between Main Story and Completionist? A: Main Story is the minimum time to finish the primary narrative. Completionist includes all achievements, collectibles, side quests, and optional content to reach 100%.